From:	VAEL <ltwiss@********.COM>
Subject:	Hacking
Date:	Sat, 12 Jul 1997 16:49:12 +0000

The following has a slight vein of SR, and is of a subject matter
that I'm sure many have opinions and I just wanted to hear your side.

I sat down last night to browes the movie 'Hackers' and it
got me thinking. (Big surprise!)

For one to 'hack' you need passcodes or an intricate knowledge of the
programming language of the system. (very rudimentary thinking I know,
but I'm trying to make a point.)

To hack into a system, you are essentially writing counter programs
and altering present information inside the mark system.

Do then ends justify the means?

For all the time needed and required to obtain knowledge of a mark
system, just to infiltrate it, isn't there an easier way of obtaining
the goods you are trying to 'borrow'?

Is 'hacking' a viable means of theft? Or is just easier to steal your
brothers birth certificate, go down to the DMV with some of his mail,
and get a drivers license with his name on it (but your picture),
just to get a visa card that you need?

And of high tech theft? With the knowledge gain through countless
hours of self taught computer programming, wouldn't it be easier just
to go get a job at Fujitsu and steal the info from the inside?

Vael


"One of the most terrible moments in a boy's life, is when he discovers
his father and mother are human beings who share a love that he
can never quite taste. It's a loss, an awakening to the fact that
the world is there and here and we are in it alone.
The moment carries it's own truth; you can't evade it."
- Duke Paul-Muad'Dib Atreides